1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a reproducing apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus for controlling the position of a transducer relative to recording tracks on a recording medium, i.e. for tracking control over the transducer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recording tracks which are formed, for example, concentrically on a recording medium, such as a magnetic disc, have some positional error deviating about several ten .mu.m from a reference position due to the error of a stepwise feeding action performed on a recording head during a recording. Therefore, where record reproduction is carried out with a reproducing apparatus that differs from the apparatus used for recording the record or where the recording medium has been deformed by changes in temperature, etc., it is difficult to accurately carry out tracking control solely by means of the stepwise feeding mechanism including a suitable driving source, such as a stepping motor. To overcome this difficulty, there has been proposed an arrangement in which automatic tracking control is accomplished with a transducer, such as a magnetic head, carried by an electric-to-mechanical converting element. This element is driven with a control signal based on a reproduction output. However, in moving a reproducing head at a high speed for continuous reproducing, etc., the tracking control arrangement of the prior art has presented a problem with respect to the responsibility of the electric-to-mechanical converting element. Another shortcoming of the prior art arrangement is that the controlling direction of the tracking control is hardly discernible when the control is accomplished by a dither method.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a reproducing apparatus which is capable of eliminating the above shortcomings of the prior art and particularly those of the tracking control arrangement hitherto employed.
It is another object of the invention to provide a tracking control arrangement which is compatible between different apparatuses and is provided with means for permitting adequate control even in an operation mode in which a transducer must continuously gain access to a plurality of recording tracks, one after another, on a recording medium, as during a continuous reproducing mode or during a search mode.
It is a further object of the invention to provide means for carrying out appropriate control even in an operation mode wherein the transducer, by the above arrangement, gains access to the above-plurality of recording tracks, one after another.